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Re: It's jolly quiet around here

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In message <v8io17$2mokl$1@dont-email.me>, at 14:47:22 on Fri, 2 Aug 
2024, Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> remarked:
>On 02/08/2024 13:53, Roland Perry wrote:
>>  Nor was Cambridge South envisaged back then.
>
>We did try. But the rail industry wasn't interested[#], so we couldn't 
>reserve the land for it (we'd have been sued to kingdom come), so it's 
>being built in the wrong place because the right place has since had 
>other stuff built on it.
>
>[#] I was at a party and met a student friend who had become a director 
>of Network Rail. She said that I would be pleased to hear that some 
>board meeting had just approved the Science Park station.

Which the Science Park later refused to be named after them.

>Great, I said, now what about the Addenbrooke's station?
>
>She fell about laughing. Was never going to happen.

I went to the Network Rail consultation, which was held in the midst of 
the pandemic, and it was clear they had in mind a station for the local 
commuter belt (to get to London) and the hospital was barely on their 
radar.

Not surprising since it's a *long* walk to outpatients, and even if 
people wanted to commute to the biocampus (or even hospital staff) it 
would only scratch the surface of the number of people wanting to get 
their simultaneously.

They had an event at Ely station about two months ago to discuss various 
proposals locally, and I asked the chap what the service pattern was 
going to be (eg, will it be an additional stop for fast trains, only 
served by stoppers, or whatever) and he said they hadn't decided that 
yet. Which has to be a lie, because it's a fundamental parameter for the 
business case.

Meanwhile back at Cambridge North, the business case there (which I 
*did* have a copy of) predicted a couple of dozen passengers a day 
commuting from the north (ie Ely/March) to the Science Park etc. And the 
final timetable reflected that with only about one rush hour train 
stopping there in the morning.

I've not seen the latest footfall data, but last year it seemed it was 
abstracting passengers from Waterbeach, rather than generating much 
additional use. It's function as "Northstowe Parkway" has been hampered 
by the snail's pace of the build there. I went through the other day, 
and it was tumbleweed. Mindful that the go-ahead was given during Gordon 
Brown's tenure.

I won't go on about the Misguided Bus today <thank God - Omnes>
-- 
Roland Perry

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It's jolly quiet around here Michael Kilpatrick <news@mkilpatrick.co.uk> - 2024-07-24 11:00 +0100
  Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-07-24 12:38 +0100
    Re: It's jolly quiet around here Keith Willshaw <keithwillshaw@gmail.com> - 2024-07-27 17:05 +0100
  Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-07-24 12:52 +0100
  Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-07-25 17:38 +0100
    Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-07-25 17:57 +0100
      Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-07-25 21:23 +0100
        Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-07-25 21:55 +0100
          Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-07-28 13:06 +0100
            Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-07-28 14:44 +0100
              Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-07-28 16:30 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-07-28 16:47 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-07-29 12:25 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2024-07-29 18:22 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-07-30 15:54 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2024-08-02 11:58 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-08-02 13:53 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-08-02 14:47 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-08-03 09:44 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-08-03 10:27 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2024-08-03 12:26 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-08-03 12:59 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2024-08-03 13:24 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-08-03 18:38 +0100
                Re: It's jolly quiet around here Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> - 2024-08-03 18:35 +0100
  Re: It's jolly quiet around here Tim Ward <tim@brettward.co.uk> - 2024-07-29 19:09 +0100

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